Don’t get us wrong, we can hike the eff out of Temescal, Mandeville, and Topanga Canyons. Being cosmopolitan urbanites who’ve lived and spent time in many a metropolis, we find ourselves quite dazzled by the decidedly non-rustic yet cardio impacting nature of urban hiking. To be butt-kicking clear, this is more than taking a walk around town for a cup of coffee. Urban hiking can be as strenuous as summiting peaks —rising and lowering in dramatic elevations be they paved road or public stairway. Such trekking is also a great way to get to know our lovely city of Angels.

We give a big whatever to those outsiders who make statements like, no one walks in LA, ever. They’re wrong. We don’t all live in traffic. Many of us bike and take those footpaths less traveled. After all, geologically, our city is bifurcated by the Santa Monica Mountains. There are guys like Mike “the poet” Sonksen and our dear friend, Lizy Dastin and her Art & Seeking walks and talks whose tours make for great, informative warm ups and cool downs. In fact, the other day we went next level on the east side of LA. With a little help from some GPS mapping our urban hike took us up and down various Silverlake and Echo Park neighborhood streets and stairs. To get an idea of what we hit up, some of the lengthier stretches of stairs included: The 133 Music Box Steps that connects Vendome Street and Descano Drive, the 90 steps of Redcliff Street to Cicero Drive, the 102 steps linking Hamilton Way to Elevado Street, the 139 steps connecting Descano to Larissa Drive, the 83 steps of Murray Drive to Hamilton Way, and the Sunset to Hamilton 90 steps. Add to that the Sunset to Larissa Drive 109 steps, Larissa to Winslow Drive’s 96 steps, the 104 steps of Silverwood Terrace North that joins Easterly and Silverwood Terraces, and finally, the 177 steps of the Angelus Steps. For good measure we added in Effie’s 82 steps and the three parts of the Swan steps equalling 287 stairs and winding up the hills of Echo Park and Silverlake. Phew!

We’re ready for more! Please share with us your stories of taking the stairs through LA. We’re always looking for new routes and workouts!